As president of the Metropolitan Swimming Federation in Brazil, Havelange became a member of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and joined the Union Cycliste Internationale in 1958.

[9] In 1974, Havelange defeated Englishman Stanley Rous for the presidency of FIFA, the governing body of world association football.

[10] Sports marketer Patrick Nally said that "Havelange had seen the future...he knew that if he became the president of the only federation already running its own high-profile world championship then he would enjoy huge economic power".

[11] Havelange did not have sufficient money to fund his programme for FIFA, so he sought financial support from Dassler, who wished to supply Adidas branded equipment to the national federations.

[11] Supported by sports marketer Patrick Nally, Havelange enlisted Adidas and Coca-Cola as primary sponsors of FIFA tournaments.

[12] The support of commercial organizations was crucial to the future of Havelange and FIFA, and provided a model for global sporting federations.

Havelange was building a new international headquarters in Zurich, appointing professional full-time staff and PR and finance people.

Many others were eager to follow and quick to fall into the hands of Horst and myself"[11]The sale of television rights increased greatly under Havelange's leadership.

Awarded the World Cup in 1966, Argentina did little to prepare for the event before the 1976 Argentine coup d'état that saw a military junta rule the country.

Lacoste had previously been head of the organising committee for the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina and was cousin of de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla.

Havelange wrote a character reference for Andrade in 1987 as "amiable and pleasant ... predominant feature .. loyalty .. good family man, a devoted friend, and is admired as a sports administrator".

As a result of the expansion and allocation of places, tension grew between the governing body of European football (UEFA) and the FIFA leadership.

[22] He told British Prime Minister Tony Blair he wanted England to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

[23] In 1999 De Telegraaf reported that Havelange accepted gifts of diamonds, bicycles, sports articles, Delft blue porcelain, paintings and art books, in connection with Amsterdam's failed bid for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

Dassler, French businessman Andre Guelfi, and Japanese advertising firm Dentsu established ISL to help market the rights for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

[27] An IOC ethics committee was announced in June 2011 to investigate claims that Havelange received a bribe of $1 million in connection with ISL.

[28] Days before the ethics committee was set to happen, Havelange resigned as a member of the IOC, citing health concerns.

[29] In November 2011 Jennings accused Havelange of being one of the people who collectively paid 5.5 million CHF to close the 2008 ISL fraud trial.

[5] The prosecutor also believed that Havelange and Teixeira were guilty of criminal breaches of their duties to serve FIFA as senior executives.

[32] In March and April 2012, Havelange was hospitalized for a seriously infected right ankle in Rio de Janeiro, which necessitated a period in intensive care.

In 24 years as FIFA's president, Havelange was credited with building the Zurich-based organization from a fledgling operation in a private residence to a worldwide force that oversees a $250 billion-a-year international industry.